Ageing Ponting still awaiting his Indian summer

Ponting waiting for a new dawn that has stubbornly refused to break

In a defiant captain's swansong, Ricky Ponting hit a fighting century in a losing cause as Australia bowed out of the World Cup earlier this year and then spoke of his hopes for a "Tendulkar-like" re-birth.

Nine months later, the gritty Tasmanian is still gazing at the horizon, waiting for a new dawn that has stubbornly refused to break.

Ponting a shadow of his former dominant self

Ponting, conversely, is a shadow of his former dominant self. Two half-centuries in his last four Tests have lifted his average to a paltry 24.84 for the past year.

Ponting's recent dismissals, flailing across the crease with the ball invariably cannoning into his pads, have been seen as an indication of a man no longer the master of his technique, let alone the match of the world's best bowlers.

With debate raging about his place in the team, his captain Michael Clarke has backed him to follow Tendulkar into his own Indian summer - as soon as that elusive third digit again appears next to his name on the scoreboard.

"Once he makes that score, he'll go on like Sachin and the next few years of his career could be his best," Clarke said before Australia's tour of South Africa last month.

"Ricky's a huge help to a lot of the young guys in our group, passing on experience and knowledge. I still do a lot of work with him on my batting," he said.

Ponting, Tendulkar will undoubtedly loom large in cricket

Ponting and Tendulkar will undoubtedly loom large in cricket long after they bow out of the game but their careers may be viewed quite differently.

Tendulkar's legend was born when the curly-haired 16-year-old defiantly batted on with a blood-stained shirt after being struck in the mouth by a Waqar Younis delivery during his 1989 debut in Pakistan.

His aura only grew from there as he racked up century after century with an effortless grace that Don Bradman remarked was similar to his own.

'It is a tough thing to decide when it is the end'

Ponting hammered 96 on debut as a 20-year-old against Sri Lanka, and his fiercely competitive nature and front-foot aggression has propelled him to 39 Test centuries and 42 Test wins as captain, the most ever.

Moulded in a succession of ruthless teams bound by a culture of winning, the belligerent Tasmanian remains a figure of respect rather than adulation in Australia.

The public is unlikely ever to forgive or forget his crime of captaining the team to a third Ashes series loss earlier this year, and a protracted departure will not help.

"It is a tough thing to decide when it is the end," former Australia skipper Greg Chappell told local radio this week.

"The players of Ricky Ponting's calibre are rare and it is better to give them one game or one series too many than one game or one series too few because there aren't that many that can replace them.

"There does come a point - and I don't want to make a comment one way or another about Ricky's stage - where there is a diminishing return on the investment and the decision has to be taken as to whether there is somebody else who can do as well at the moment but has a chance to get better."